Smiley Face Over the Gas Gauge

I came across this a couple of days ago. Someone posted it on a loop I’m on. It’s from Esther Hicks and Abraham about how pretending to be happy when you’re not is like pasting a smiley face over the gas gauge. You don’t want to do that. You WANT to know if the gas tank is empty. In the same way, we want to know if we’re not happy because that’s how we know we need to DO SOMETHING.

I believe in focusing on what’s good in our lives. I also believe that discontent can be a gift IF we use it to make changes so that our lives become better.

I suppose it’s about balance. It’s about believing our lives can be good and celebrating the blessings in our lives AND recognizing when something needs to change.

It isn’t always easy to make changes. It isn’t always easy to accept that what we hoped for isn’t working out. It isn’t easy to take that leap of faith and let go of what we have not knowing what will replace it.

I’m not suggesting to run every time something goes wrong or to lightly throw away what may just need some renegotiating. What I’m saying is that if we go still and listen, then deep within us we know when it’s time to make a change. Deep within us, we can find answers IF we are doing so from a place of believing that we can and that one way or another, we’ll find a way to make our lives better.

Jumping in Puddles has posted on her blog about getting rid of deadwood and what struck me about her post is her strength and determination to be okay—no matter what.

It seems to me that the only way we get sufficient motivation to do the things that scare the heck out of us is by realizing how unhappy we’ll be if we don’t. The last thing in the world that we need in those moments is a smiley face over the gas gauge!

What’s often difficult is to be at that point where we feel discontent but we haven’t got a clue what we’re supposed to do about it. It can seem easier to cling to the smiley face or to the belief that life always feels this way than to sit with the discomfort and ask what it is we can do to make things better. Because if we don’t see a clear answer, we may believe we’re going to be stuck feeling this way forever and who wants that?

But I believe that if we can sit with the discontent and allow ourselves to acknowledge it AND at the same time trust that there is a way to make things better and that sooner or later we will figure it out then we are far more likely to find solutions.

I believe that each of us has within us the knowledge and the strength to make our lives better and better. I believe life is a process and that our best possible path is to keep growing and changing—and celebrate doing so.

There have been times when I pasted a smiley face over my gas gauge which was reading empty. Maybe that’s all I could do then but...I don’t ever want to take that way out again. Not now that I know how capable I am and that no matter what happens I will be able to come up with solutions to the challenges in my life. I bless the day I ripped the smiley face away.

So, if you’re pasting smiley faces over a gas gauge or two, you may want to ask yourself why and whether there is a way you could be happier and if so what steps you might take to get there.

Sending blessings and safe and gentle ((((((hugs))))))),
April_optimist